Waste incinerator proposal to burn 165,000 tonnes of rubbish a year
The future of a waste incinerator plant at Matraville is in the hands of Randwick Council, which will be discussed at Tuesday night’s meeting. The proposal could involve thousands of tonnes of rubbish burnt each year to help pwer the Orora paper mill.
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A waste incinerator plant is being proposed for Matraville, which could involve thousands of tonnes of rubbish being burned to help power the Orora paper mill.
The proposal is a joint venture between Orora and waste management firm Suez.
The project will be discussed at Randwick Council’s meeting on Tuesday night.
The proposed plant would be built at the Orora paper mill in the Botany industrial area on Botany Rd and could incinerate up to 165,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year — roughly the same weight as the Sydney Opera House — including reject material from the paper mill.
It would also produce electricity and steam to help power the mill.
Despite thousands of tonnes of waste potentially being incinerated each year, a Suez spokeswoman said it was on a much smaller scale than plants proposed elsewhere in Sydney.
“Air emissions from the plant will include steam, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, all which exist in the atmosphere naturally,” the spokeswoman said.
“Before being released, these compounds go through a multistage cleaning process to make sure they are neutralised.
“Preliminary modelling, subject to further review, indicates that emissions from the proposed plant could be compared to the operation of around 14 diesel buses and would be monitored on a continuous basis.”
The spokeswoman added the increase in truck movements would not be significant “given current truck movements that transport mill rejects to landfill would no longer be needed”.
She said the plant would help reduce the mill’s reliance on fossil fuel-based electricity.
Councillor Dylan Parker said he was concerned the community would be negatively impacted. “There are hundreds of homes located within a stone’s throw of this proposed incinerator that will burn commercial waste including plastics,” he said.
“Our community deserves every assurance that this won’t lead to adverse health or amenity impacts.
“If we aren’t reassured it is safe or will have negative amenity impacts then this proposal is dead on arrival as far as the community is concerned.”
The mill recycles old corrugated cardboard boxes to make recycled brown paper, which is then made into new boxes.
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